Spotlight Issues

Cardiovascular Research regularly publishes "Spotlight Issues". Each issue is devoted to a specific research topic and contains a number of invited expert reviews alongside original research papers.

A full list of previous Spotlight Issues published by Cardiovascular Research since 2003 can be found below, many of which are available for free. Spotlight Issues cover a range of topics from myocardial proteases, to the genetic of arrhythmias, to the effects of sodium on the heart.

"Review Focus Issues" contain a series of reviews that may or may not be accompanied by original papers – they are generally not as broad in focus as Spotlight Issues.

2015 Issues

Cardiovascular Research publishes Focus review issues devoted to a specific research topic. A Focus issue on ‘Leukocyte Trafficking’ will bring together a series of papers that highlight recent advances in basic and translational research.

Inflammatory responses require efficient recruitment of leukocytes into the tissue. This process proceeds in a cascade-like fashion. Selectins and their counter receptors mediate the first contact of leukocytes with the endothelium, followed by rolling and integrin-mediated arrest. During rolling, leukocytes collect different inflammatory signals which can activate several signaling pathways leading to leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium and transmigration through the blood vessel wall into the inflamed tissue where they release potent oxidants, proteases, and cationic peptides, which may induce collateral tissue damage. Whereas inflammatory reactions are beneficial and necessary for host defense, they need to be balanced and controlled to prevent harmful consequences and tissue destruction. In this issue, we focus on leukocyte recruitment and functions during inflammation and development.

Topics that will be covered in invited review articles as related to this theme include:

Inherited cardiomyopathies are clinically highly variable and show age-dependent and variable penetrance, i.e. age of onset in patients with the same mutated gene can vary from early age to senescence. But even for a given mutation in one gene, onset and disease severity largely differ. This suggests a more complex pathophysiologic basis for disease development, including secondary disease-modifiers that, once identified, may serve as therapeutic targets. The focus is on advances in research methodologies and pathomechanisms in adult cardiomyopathy.

Topics that will be covered in invited review articles as related to this theme include:

A number of recent randomized studies have failed to show benefit of HDL-C raising approaches and led many researchers to question the "HDL hypothesis" supported by prospective observational, and in vitro and in vivo mechanistic studies. The aim of this issue is to discuss these controversies and to offer possible mechanistic explanations for them. HDL also acts as reservoir for a number of biologically active substances which are altered in acute and chronic conditions and affect the function of endothelial cells, immune and inflammatory cells, and beta cells. A second aim of this issue is to discuss the role of HDL in disease development and to critically discuss the value of animal models as translational tools for the study of lipid disorders and atherosclerosis.

The issue brings together a series of papers that highlight recent advances in basic and translational research. There is strong and growing body of evidence for modulation of cardiac myocytes by other cells in the myocardium. For fibroblasts, and to a lesser extent endothelial cells, this is well established, but new data are emerging regarding the nature of the communication and the relevance for disease. Other cell types are also recognized to influence myocytes such as inflammatory cells and adipocytes. Conversely, cardiac myocytes may influence the inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, and stem cells. The focus is on the adult heart, and in particular pathophysiology. The development aspect is not targeted, but a discussion of signalling mechanisms may include developmental aspects.

This issue brings together a series of papers that highlight recent advances in basic and translational research. The manuscripts provide insights into molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and pathophysiology of the maternal heart and cardiovascular system during pregnancy and in the peripartum phase. Moreover, aspects on prevalence, etiology and novel treatment options are highlighted. Insights from pregnancy-mediated cardiovascular disease open perspectives to heart failure and vascular remodeling by identifying novel molecular pathways to be explored in other conditions of stress and overload.

2013 Issues

Blood vessels are exposed to multiple mechanical forces that are exerted on the vessel wall and at the endothelial surface. The stresses and strains experienced by arteries have profound effects on vascular physiology and disease. They are major determinants of the localization, progression and fate of atherosclerotic lesions. This special issue highlights the interface between mechanical forces and vascular biology by including papers from leading engineers and vascular biologists in the field.

This issue brings together a series of papers that highlight recent insights into the interaction between ultrastructure and functional adaptation in the microdomains for calcium in cardiac hypertrophy and failure.

To understand complex biological systems, detailed examination of the properties of their constituent parts is essential; however, this alone is insufficient. The quest for single signalling pathways in multifactorial disease processes has the illusion of simplicity, but requires higher levels of integration. The four big “-omic” techniques – genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics – provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between molecular and systems biology and offer a non-biased suite of tools that will be indispensable for addressing the multiple facets of cardiovascular disease.